A DRUG dealer was killed and another man left fighting for life after violence erupted in a seaside town yesterday.

A DRUG dealer was killed and another man left fighting for life after violence erupted in a seaside town yesterday.

Mark “Ribs” Osborne, 33, is believed to have been stabbed in the chest and decapitated at a house in Cowal Place, Dunoon.

At the same time – around 1am – John Findlay, 45, was stabbed in a flat in nearby Kirk Street. He was in a serious condition at Inverclyde Royal Hospital last night.

Police said they were investigating a suspicious death and a serious assault and could not rule out a connection between the incidents.

As forensics experts combed both locations and surrounding gardens in the Argyll town for clues, a source told the Record: “Osborne is known to everyone as Ribs and has his own private registration plate.

“He has convictions for drug dealing and his girlfriend Ann-Marie Collins is currently serving time in Cornton Vale women’s prison.

“He moved to Dunoon recently because he was in a lot of bother.

“This happens a lot where folk in Dunoon end up getting embroiled in the trouble brought over by drug dealers from Greenock. This is a lovely quiet town and a drugs war is the last thing we need.

“There was a similar series of incidents back in 2010 where three men were stabbed. It feels like it’s happening all over again.”

In June 2010, Chris Ferns, 30, died from knife wounds as pal George Adams, 29, lay critically injured beside him in a pool of blood after Thomas McIntyre, 28, was assaulted with a broken bottle nearby.